This application is the national phase under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7 371 of PCT International Application No. PCT/KR 99/00035 which has an International filing date of Jan. 20, 1999, which designated the United States of America.
The present invention relates to a fishing equipment, and more particularly to a fishing reel, in which a spool can be easily and firmly assembled with a housing and is not unexpectedly separated from the housing after assembled, and the rotation of the spool in one direction can be braked without moving a main shaft relative to the housing.
A fishing reel is a well-known equipment for winding the fishing line thereon. In general, the conventional fishing reel has a spool for winding the fishing line thereon and a housing for rotatably supporting the spool.
There have been many kinds of prior fishing reels for improving various characteristics of the fishing reel structure. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,847 issued to Ament discloses a fly reel with adjustable brake assembly for the purpose of storing and adjustably dispensing fishing line. However, Ament""s fishing reel requires a separate brake plate, which enlarges the entire volume of the fishing reel and is apt to be out of order because it is interposed between the main housing and the spool. Further, in Ament""s fishing reel, the spool may be unexpectedly separated from the main housing, and various parts in relation to the center axle are subject to relatively large friction, because the center axle is rotated and moved forward and backward during adjusting the brake assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,840 issued to Bushnel et. al. discloses a fly reel with a drag system. Bushnel et. al."" fishing reel also has similar problems of Ament""s fishing reel. Furthermore, Bushnel et. al."" fishing reel is very difficult to manufacture and increases its manufacturing cost because it has very complicated construction such as a drag spreader, a drag expander, a spur gear, etc. which do not perform relatively superior drag function.
While the above fishing reels fulfill their objectives and requirements, the above mentioned patens and other prior arts in the applicant""s knowledge do not disclose a fishing reel, in which a spool can be easily and firmly assembled with a housing and is not unexpectedly separated from the housing after assembled, and the rotation of the spool in one direction can be braked without moving a main shaft relative to the housing.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of fishing reels now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new fishing reel wherein the same can be utilized. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new fishing reel which has many of the advantages of the fishing reels mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a fishing reel which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art fishing reels, either alone or in any combination thereof.
In more detailed description, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fishing reel, in which a spool can be easily and firmly assembled with a housing and is not unexpectedly separated from the housing after assembled.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a fishing reel, in which the rotation of the spool in one direction can be braked without moving a main shaft relative to the housing, thereby greatly decreasing the possibility that the spool and the housing may be unexpectedly separated from each other.
To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a fishing reel comprising: a housing having a hub disposed at a center of the housing; a spool having a winding drum disposed at a center of the spool, the winding drum containing a one-way clutch integrally fixed to the winding drum; a main shaft fixed to the hub; a sleeve surrounding a central portion of the main shaft, the sleeve being in contact with the central portion of the main shaft; a first means for assembling the spool with the housing, the sleeve being fitted in the one-way clutch, the sleeve being permitted to rotate in only one direction by the one-way clutch when the spool has been assembled with the housing; a second means for adjusting a frictional force between the main shaft and the sleeve, the spool being capable of rotating in only one direction relative to the housing when the frictional force is maximum, the spool being capable of rotating in either direction more freely as the frictional force is decreased.
Preferably, the first means comprises an assembling pin, an assembling pin spring for applying a rotational biasing force to the assembling pin, and an engaging groove formed near a front end of the main shaft. The spool is assembled with and separated from the housing respectively when the assembling pin is engaged with and disengaged from the engaging groove.
The main shaft includes a head disposed at the front end of the main shaft and a neck for forming the engaging groove after the head, the assembling pin including a core shaped like a cam, a lever extending outward from the core, and a hook formed at one side of a middle portion of the lever, the head and the neck of the main shaft completely passing through the winding drum of the spool when the spool is assembled with the housing, the hook being disengaged from the neck when the lever is pivoted in a first pivoting direction, the assembling pin spring pivoting the lever in a second pivoting direction so as to make the hook be engaged with the neck when the lever is released, the second pivoting direction being opposite to the first pivoting direction.
More preferably, the hook comprises two fingers protruding from the lever and a semi-circular circumference between the two fingers, so that the two fingers and the semi-circular circumference surround at least half of the neck to prevent the hook from being disengaged from the neck.
The second means comprises an adjusting knob and a plurality of plungers, the main shaft further comprises a shoulder at a middle portion after the neck, the sleeve being disposed between the shoulder and a front surface of the hub, the adjusting knob being fitted around the screw-thread at a rear portion of the screw-thread after the nut, the plungers extending through the hub and being urged backward by biasing force of plunger springs, the adjusting knob pushing the sleeve by means of the plungers so as to increase a frictional force between the sleeve and the shoulder when the adjusting knob is rotated along the screw-thread in a first rotational direction, the plungers being pushed back by the plunger springs so as to decrease the frictional force when the adjusting knob is rotated along the screw-thread in a second rotational direction.